Sender-board apparatus.



E. R GILL.

SENDER BOARD APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY25. :910.

l l @0,876 Patented. Non 16, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

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E. R'. GILL.

SENDER BOARD APPARATUS. APPucATxoN FILED 1M/25,1940.

Patented Nov. 16, 1915.

f 3 5 Y A DE@ oml mon/ver InnTEl) sTATEs PATENT oEEIoE.

EDWIN n. GILI., or YoNKEES, NEW Yonx, ASsIGNoR, BY IIESNE ASSIGNMENTs, To y y HALL SWITCH a SIGNAL COMPANY, A lCORPORATION' 'or MAINE.

SENDER-BOARD APPARATUS.

sbecmcation of Letters Patent.

Application nled May 25, 1910. Serial No. 563,395.

- chester and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in;

Sender-Board Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention rel-ates to a. new and improved apparatus for automatlcally sending selective signals to individual stations of a group, and to a construction of board or Support for, carrying'such apparatus.

An vobject of the invention is to provlde a sending device of the -kind mentioned whereby combinations ofelectricalimpulses may be rapidly impressed upon a line with the minimum of attention and liabilityto error. i

A 'further object is the provision of a Sending device which may be readilybsecured in place upon or removed from a board adapted to carry such sending devices, with'- out disturbing or interferin with the operation of other sending devices which may be carried by the board.

A furthery object is to provide means whereby all electrical connections with a. newly attached sending device are made coincident with the act of attaching it.

Other objects andaims of the invention, more or less broad than those statedabove, will be in part obvious and in 'part .Specifically referred to in the lcourse of the following description of the elements, combinations,",arra`ngements of parts, and applications of principles constituting theinvent tion;. and .the Scope 'of protection contemplated. will lbe 'i indicated lin. the appended claims. i t

In the accompanyingdrawings, which are to be taken as a part of this specification, and in whichl I have shown a merely preferred form of embodiment of the invention: Figure 1 is a face view of one ofthe sending devices, detached; Fig. 2 isa side View of the.. same partly in Section and 'partly brokenfaway; Fig. 3 is a sectional view, partly in'elevation, showing a sending device Aingits relation v to 'a `sl'lppo'r'ting "board andcove'rgnFig. 4 is a detail of the clock 'Workof agsending device,I 'the vback "plate, beingl removed; 5 ...is a Y.face view R. GTLL, re-

of a board carrying a number of sending devices; and Fig. 6 is a similar view, with the coverplate removed.

Patented Nov. 16, 1915.

Considering now one of the sender units, Y

handle 4 mounted upon shaft 3 well beyond the front of frame 1. A stop-arm 5 is fixed on the shaft 3 so as to turn with it, and said arm has an oset portion 6 which lies normally in the path of a pin 7 on a make-andbreak wheel 8. Said wheel 8 is mounted upon a shaft 9 carrying a pinion 10 that meshes with the gear 11 on the shaft 3. Gear l11 is connectedto Shaft 3 for rotation in one direction as by means of a ratchet-clutch device (see Fig. 4), while shaft 3 may be rotated relatively to.the gear 11 in the 'other directiomwhich is the direction for winding up spring 2. Rotation ofy Shaft 3 in this latter direction is,

however, limited, as by engagement of the stop-arm` 5 with a stop-piece 12 on the framey 1. Movement of the make-and-break wheel -when released is controlled by the escapestantially as shown.

A long movable contact spring 14 is me chanically and electrically connected to thefront plate 28 of the frame 1,'and has an anglo-piece 15 Whose tip extends into the path of movemontoi' the teeth on the make-andbreak wheel 8, so that as the latter revolves in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1, the spring is recurrently lifted into contact with the relatively fixed terminal 16.

Considering how the means whereby the device thus far described may be electrically connected to line, it will be notedthat the front and back plates 28 and 29 of the frame 1 in the structure illustrated are rectangular and are "spaced apart by means of Ametallic posts 17, 18, 19,. and 20, at the four corners, f respectively, diagonally opposite posts 17 and 19 bein preferably solid,`and posts 18 and 20 tubu ar. Through the tubular members 18 and 20 are adapted to extend appropriate `pins lor bolts, whereby the sending devices'are koperatively secured upon a board 21, preferablyof insulating material, a plu- -rality of the devices being carried, as shown in Fig. 6. ,As .bestfshown in Fig. 3, the board 21 is appropriately pierced for each sending devicefiand pins 22 and 23 are threaded into these apertures, the apertures being spaced to correspond to the positions of the tubular members 18 and l20 respectively. Shoulders 24 and 25 on said pins abut against the forward face of the board as shown, when' the pins are screwed into place. lThe rear ends of the pins behind the board, vare formed into av reduced threaded portion 26 and 27, which, by the addition of appropriate clamping members threaded thereon, constitute binding posts, whereby electrical connection between said pins and the line may. be established. The opposite or forward end of pin 23 is adapted to enter and snugly fit the tubular member 20 of the sending device with sufficient friction to form a good electrical connection therewith.

The pin 23 may extend forwardly beyondY the front plate 28 of the frame l, and be secured by means of a nut threaded upon its end if desired, but-this is not necessary. Pin 22, is considerably reduced forwardly of its shoulder 24 and thisl reduced portion extends into and beyond the tubular member 18 and is separated from the back plate 29 of frame 1, by a ring of insulating material 30 interposed between shoulder 24 and the back plate. The pin inwardly of the shoulder 24. 1s insulated from the member 18 asoby'means of an insulating tube 31. Beyond the Afront plate 28 of frame 1 the pin 22 is separated from the frame bya ring of insulating material 32, while the liXed Contact piece -16 is clamped upon the pin as by means of nut 34.

By the 'construction described it will be evident that pin 23 is in direct electrical connectionwith the metallic frame 1, while pin 22 is insulated therefrom, so that when the poles of a generator are applied to the pins, behind the board21, current will pass only by way of contacts 14 and 16 as these are recurrentlyl brought together in the operation of the -makeandbreak wheel 8. The sending devices are readily removable from the supporting' board for purposes of repair or substitution, it being only necessary, in the form shown, to take off theI nut 34, whereupon the device may be slipped 0E its pins 22, 23. The pins vbeing held in relatively fixed relation in the board, and the senders all being similar in size and con-- struction, it is obvious that the senders may be easily and quickly slid into position upon the pins and secured by the application of the single nut 34. Thevoperation of bodily removing and replacing any one sender should require only a few seconds, the electrical connections being made-.without particular attention.

. Referring now to the guards'for the sendabove the board, and each opening 36 is concentrically' smaller than the disk 35 of the corresponding sender, a spring 38 surround` ing shaft 3 and urging the disk away from the sender in a'direction to close the opening 36 when the sender and cover 37 are inv position. The apertures 36, while 'smaller than the disks 35, are larger than the handles 4, so that the cover may be lifted bodily of without the necessity of detaching the handles from their shafts. Rotation of the `disk 35 in its own plane is prevented as by means of a headed pin 40 preferably extending from the stop-piece 12 through the disk. N umerals or other marks identifying the individual senders are placed upon the disks so as to be visible through openings 36, and these, by the means last described, are maintained in a constant relation to the operating ,90 keys of their respective senders.

It is to be understood that all of the senders upon a board are electrically connected through their pins with a line (not shown) inany usual or preferred manner, so that upon actuation of any one or succession of senders a selective signal or signals, characterized by the particular make-and-break wheels used, may be impressed upon the line.'

In operation, whenit is desired to call a 10o particular station on the line the operator', selecting the proper sending device on the board, rotates thel handle 4 of that sender until the stop 5 engagesthe pin 12. 4Upon releasing the handle the spring 2, in returning the handleto its normal position, operates through gear lliand pinion 10 to rotate the shaft 9, and with it the make-and-break wheel 8. The rapidity of movement of the parts is governed by the train of gears operdicated in Fig. 1,the rotation of the wheel 8 will impress live short impulses upon the line followed by a second long impulse, a short impulse, a long impulse, a short impulse, a long impulse, and a final long impulse. -It should be mentioned that the final lon implse, in the present instance, is inten ed as a ringing impulse,`the impulses before it being of specially' arranged duri tions adapted for placing the selective apparatus at the given station in condition for making the necessary ringing connections. This however is only one of the many possible combinations. Each time the spring 14 engages the contact 164 current passes from one side of the line through the pin 23 from the rear side ot' the board and into the frame of the sending device, through the spring 14 into contact 113 and out through the insulated pin in the post 18 to the rear ot' the board and the other side of the line.

As many changes could be made in the above constrlmtion and many apparently widely 4ditt'erent eml'iodiments ot' this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specitic features ot' the invention herein described and all statements ot' the scope yof the invention. which as a matter ot' language, might be said to tall therebetween.

Ilaving thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters latent, is:

1. In a sender board apparatus, the combination with a'supporting board, of a plu,- rality ot independently formed sending devices adapted to be supported upon said board, said board comprising means electrically connected with a line adapted for easily detachable engagement by the sending devices, and said means being also adapted to cooperate with the sending devices for providing insulated electrodes therefor.

i2. In a sender hoard apparatus, the combination with a board, ot' a sending device to be supported thereby. a plurality of insulated supports carried by the board adapt ed to engage and directly support the sending device, the sending device bei-ng adapted to form electrical connection with one otl said supports and to torni insulated connection with another otl said supports, and a pair of cooperating electrodes one carried by said sending device and the other carried by the support which is insulated therefrom.

In a sendei` board' appa atus, the combination with a board,` of a sending device to be supported thereby. a plurality of insulated supports carried by the board adapted to engagel and directly support the sending device, the sending device being adapted to form electrical connection with one of said supports and to form insulated connection and the fixed electrode being carried by the support which is insulated from the sending device.

l. In a sender board apparatus, the combinationwith a board having a plurality of insulated pins projecting therefrom, of a sending device having parts adapted to be telescoped over said pins to support the sending device and to torni electrical connection `vith one ot' said pins, insulating means disposed between the sending device and another of said pins, and a pair of contact members carried one bysaid sending device and the other by said insulated pin.

5. In a sender board apparatus, the combination with a board having a plu 'ality of insulated pins carried thereby, ot' a sending device adapted to engage and be directly supported by said pins and to form electrical connection with one of said pins, insulating means disposed between said sending device and another of said pins, means for holding said sending device on said pins, a contact member held in position by said retaining means, and a cooperating contact member carried by said sending device.

In a sender board apparatus, the combination with a board having a plurality ot insulated pins projecting therefrom, of a sendingdevice having tubular members adapted to be telescoped over said pins for supporting the sending device and for making electrical connection between said sending device and one ot' said pins, an insulating member within another of said tubular members adapted for insulating said device' from another ot' said pins, a movable contact carried b v said sending device and a cooperating tixed contact carried by said insulated pin. y

7. In a sender board apparatus, the combination with a board having a plurality of insulated pins projecting therefrom, of a sending device comprising parts adapted to be telescoped over said pins and to malte electrical connection between said sending device and one of said pins, insulating means between said sending device and another ot' said pins, means Jfor maintaining said sending device on said pins arranged to maintain said insulating means in position, av pair of contact making members carried one by said lsending device and another by said insulated pin, and said retaining means serving to hold the latter contact making member in cooperative relation with the former contact making member.

8. In a sender board apparatus, the combination with a board having a plurality of insulated supporting members projecting therefrom, of a sending device adapted to engage said supporting members so as to form electrical connection With one'of said supporting members and insulated connection with another of said supporting members, a ixed contact making member electrically connected with the insulated supporting member, a movable contact member electrically connected with the other supporting member, and a rotary member comprised inthe sending device for engaging the movable contact member to move the same into andout of a contact making relation with the fixed contact member.

t). In a sender board apparatus, the combination with a board having a plurality of insulated supporting members projecting therefrom, a sending device adapted to directly engage said supporting members and be supported thereby so as to form electrical connection with one of said supporting members and insulated connection with another of said supporting inenibers, a pair of insulated contact making members carried one by the sending device and the other by said insulated supporting member, and easily releasable means for retaining said sending device in supported relation with said supporting means.

10. In a device of the kind described, a board, a pair of pins secured therein, a sender having` tubular members adapted to tit said pins, one of said pins extending through its tubular member and being secured at the opposite end thereof, one of said pins being insulated from its tubular member and thereby from the sender frame, and the other pin being in electrical connection with its tubular member and through it with the sender frame, a contact connected to said insulated pin, and a recurreiitly coperatiiig contact connected with the frame.

11. In a' sender-board apparatus, the combination of a board, a sending device to be supported thereby, a plurality of insulated supports carried by the board adapted to engage and support the sending device, the sending device being adapted to form electrical connection with one of said supports and to forni insulated connection with another oi said supports, and a pair of coperating electrodes, one electricallyY connected with said sending device and the other electrically connected with the support which is insulated therefrom.

12. In a sender-board apparatus, the combination of a board, circuit terminals on said board, a plurality of individual callseiiding devices, each having two contacts and coperating parts on said board and each device whereby said devices may be separately and readily attached to and detached from said board, and one of the corresponding contacts of all the devices will be electrically connected to one circuit terminal, and the other corresponding contact ot' all the devices will be connected' to another of said circuit terminals.

13. In a sender-board apparatus, the coinbination of a board having two pins insulated lt'rom each other and projecting therefrom, a sending device adapted to be supported by and readily detachable from said pins, and having two contact members, one of which is movable relative to the other, one of said members being electrically connected with one of said pins, and the other of said members being electrically connected With the other pin, and means for bringing said members together.

14. In an impulse-sending device, the coinbination of a metal frame, a wheel having teeth thereon effectively corresponding to the impulses constituting its call carried by said frame, means for revolving said wheel at a substantially constant speed for a single revolution for a complete call, a contact iii electrical connection with said frame, and a contact insulated from said frame, said contacts being arranged to be moved into engagement with each other by the teeth on said wheel, and means whereby said frame may be easily attached to and detached from a suitable support.

In witness whereof I aiiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

EDWIN R. GILL.

IVitnesses:

FRANK J. KENT, M. A. lrsciiicii.

Copies. of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing thevv Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. C. 

